Government seeks SC nod to return undisputed Ayodhya land

The central government in 1991 had acquired 67 acre land around the disputed site.

Ayodhya dispute: Centre moves SC seeking permission for release of excess land to original owners

NEW DELHI: The Centre has urged the Supreme Court to lift a 2003 status quo order that prevents it from handing back land acquired around the disputed Ayodhya site to its original owners, the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas, signalling ahead of the general elections that it may allow work on the Ram temple to begin in this adjoining area. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has been pressing for a start to construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya.

The application is expected to come up before the constitution bench whenever it takes up the appeal against a 2010 Allahabad High Court order that made a three-way split of the 2.77-acre disputed site among the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara and Ram Lalla. Following the destruction of the Babri Masjid in 1992, the central government acquired 67.7 acres the following year, including the parcel cited above. The Centre’s application said that only 0.313 acres of land was disputed and that the rest should be handed back to the Nyas and other owners. The Nyas has been asking for the land back, it said.

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and the Vishva Hindu Parishad welcomed the Centre’s move, while members of the Opposition were critical.

“We should get permission to start work on the undisputed piece of land,” he said.

The Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas owns 42 acres of the undisputed land, said Union minister Prakash Javdekar. “Government wants to return the land to its original owners and they want to build the Ram temple there,” he added. The application was not mentioned in court on Tuesday before the chief justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who has the power to order an immediate hearing in a case.

The five-judge bench is expected to hear the case anytime soon. The last hearing scheduled on January 29 was cancelled due to the unavailability of Justice SA Bobde. The other judges on the bench are the CJI along with Bobde, DY Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer. The fresh application will likely place an additional burden on the court to try and decide the case quickly.

However, the hearing is likely to take months as the bench grapples with voluminous documentation and the nuances of the title suit, which will have a lasting impact on the country’s polity, experts said. The issue has been pending with the top court since 2010. The government application also pointed out that it was not a party to the title suit. “The central government has no objection in principle if the superfluous land is restored to the Nyas as well as other owners after determining the extent of land required for proper access to and enjoyment of rights in the disputed area by preparing a plan map,” the government said.

This portion of the land that the Centre wants handed back is “undisputed” and its acquisition was only meant to be a “temporary” measure, the government said in the application.